Sports World: Home top group, qualify for AFC Cup zonal semis

Home top group, qualify for AFC Cup zonal semis

BACOLOD • Singapore Premier League football team Home United qualified for the AFC Cup Asean zonal semi-finals after beating Ceres Negros 2-0 in the Philippines last night to top Group F.

Izzdin Shafiq's 80th-minute free kick and Song Ui Yong's 94th-minute penalty were enough to see off the hosts, who advanced as the best Asean runners-up.The Protectors will face Indonesia's Persija Jakarta, who topped Group H, on May 8 and 15 in the two-legged semi-finals. Ceres will play Group G winners Yangon.

U-21 footballers make winning start in Brunei

The Singapore Under-21s are off to a flyer in the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy when they beat Laos 5-1 in their Group B opener in Brunei yesterday.

Defender Rusyaidi Salime got the first and last goal in the 16th and 90th minute, while Hami Syahin (39th minute) and Ikhsan Fandi (45th and 48th) also got on the scoresheet.

Singapore will face Cambodia on Monday with a good chance of reaching the semi-finals after missing out in 2014 when they lost all five group games.

Courtois and father sue ex-Belgium boss

LONDON • Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and his father Thierry have initiated legal action against Marc Wilmots after the former Belgium football manager accused them of leaking team selections.

Wilmots had told beIN Sports in an interview he was informed Thierry sold Belgium's team news to journalists during the 2016 European Championship. The 49-year-old was sacked following his team's surprise defeat by Wales in the last eight of the football tournament in France.

REUTERS

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 26, 2018, with the headline 'Sports World'. Print Edition | Subscribe

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